AUSTIN – Officials at the Circuit of The Americas said Sunday that a weekend crowd of 33,591 fans to its first International SportsCar Weekend, which featured the world’s premier endurance racing series—the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) and the American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón (ALMS).

Heavy rain plagued COTA on Friday, making for an uncomfortable day for watcing racing in the grandstands. However, Saturday and Sunday’s conditions were ideal with sunny skies and much cooler Fall-like weather.

COTA officials said that cumulative attendance for the three days was comparable to the Circuit’s GRAND-AM of The Americas event in March 2013, which drew 26,648 fans over the course of two days. Next year, the ALMS will merge with GRAND-AM Road Racing™ to form the Tudor United SportsCar Championship and they will compete under one common banner.

“We’d like to thank our customers and competitors for another great weekend of racing at Circuit of The Americas,” spokeswoman Julie Loignon said. “2013 continues to be a year of firsts for our venue, and to host the best endurance racers in the world, including drivers and teams who have competed in the prestigious 24 Hours of Le Mans, is a tremendous honor. With the merger of the GRAND-AM and ALMS series next year, we see potential to grow the U.S. fan base for sports car racing, and we have the perfect venue to do that. We also want to thank the fans who turned out despite the very soggy conditions on Friday. They showed how much they love motorsports, and we genuinely appreciate their support.”

Circuit of the Americas officials announced Sunday that 33,591 fans attended the races this weekend at the 3.4-mile road course in Southeast Austin. (COTA courtesy photo)